E-commerce major Amazon India has started levying a flat Rs 5 marketplace fee on every customer order in a bid to support the platform’s operational costs. With this, the company has joined its peers like Flipkart, Zomato, Zepto and Swiggy in charging a fixed fee on every order.
“This flat fee — applicable to all customers — supports Amazon’s commitment to provide a seamless and valuable shopping experience,” the company said in a blog post.
Walmart-owned Flipkart also started charging a platform fee of Rs 3 on orders up to Rs 10,000 last year. Its quick commerce arm, Minutes, levies a Rs 9 platform fee per order. Its fashion vertical, Myntra, also charges for a platform fee of Rs 20 per order.
Food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy, and quick commerce majors like Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto also charge handling fees ranging from Rs 4 to Rs 30 per order, depending upon the location.
For Amazon, the fees will be charged on Prime members as well. However, Amazon’s quick commerce arms, Amazon Now, Amazon Business and Bazaar, are exempted from this fee. It will also not be charged on some categories such as gift cards and digital purchases like mobile recharges and bill payments.
For pay-on-delivery orders or prepaid orders with other applicable fees (such as offer processing or exchange fees), the marketplace fee will not appear as a separate charge for now, the company said. It may still be combined with other fees, either fully or partially.
According to analysts, this fee offers a substantial amount of revenue to these companies. “The rise of quick commerce has shown that people are ready to pay a premium for convenience,” an analyst said. “Amazon is still the last platform to introduce this fee.”
To compete with quick commerce companies, Amazon has launched its new offering, Amazon Now. However, it is also working on improving the speed of delivering the orders placed on Amazon.in. For most categories and locations, the company is now capable of delivering orders within 24 hours. For arms like Amazon Fresh, the usual delivery time is up to 2 hours.